Monday, February 26, 2024

Ramblings of a Musician With Tinnitus

Are you a musician with tinnitus? 
Me too!! 

I developed tinnitus and hearing loss suddenly at the beginning of 2023. It was originally thought to be a case of Labarynthitis, but the hearing loss sometimes associated with this infection is in a different part of the ear. 

It's not uncommon for musicians to develop sensorineural hearing loss and associated tinnitus from consistently being around loud music. 
However, that's not what I have. 
It turns out that I have conductive (middle ear) hearing loss and associated tinnitus - which has nothing to do with being a musician, but rather something to do with the middle ear bones (particularly the Stapes bone).  

My tinnitus currently includes 3 tones and some intermittent rumbling. 
Of course, I had to know what notes those tones are, since they are constant. 
At first it was one tone that usually sat on G#5, but would flutter to F#5. That fluttering has remained consistent. Then, about a year later, I developed a third - constant - tone of C#4. 
So it seems as though my tinnitus also happens to be musical, and has (so far) chosen the key of C#. Of course it could be other keys, but since the C# and G# are the most prominent (and being only a semitone above middle C), I imagine the C# scale. Right now I also envision the major scale, and until an E natural appears, I will continue with it. 

This is my musical adaptation to an annoying illness. My plan is to compose a few songs that are specifically in C#M (sorry pianists), focusing on chords I, IV, and V, as complementary pieces to a disease I cannot control. 

I would love to hear if other musicians with tinnitus have turned an annoyance into a musical oddity! 

I love My Musical Life! 

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